Thankful for writers and their books

Today, July 7, I am thankful for writers and the books they write.

I have always been a reader and a variety of genres have characterized my reading throughout my life. The last fifteen years, however, have seen the work of certain writers fill an even more important place in my journey. Some of these writers have produced work that has allowed me welcome relief from the intensity of life. Other writers' works have been encouragement in dry, tough places. And in a few cases, certain writers' words have literally kept me sane and alive.

My roster of life-giving writers over this last decade-and-a-half include Leonard Sweet, C.S. Lewis, Frederick Buechner, Brian McLaren, Donald Miller, John Eldredge, Erwin McManus, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Brennan Manning, Rachel Held-Evans, Lauren Winner, Janet Hagberg, Sam Rima, Parker Palmer, David Benner, Edwin Friedman, and Daniel Taylor. Each of them have written books that seemed to come along at just the right time for me, keeping hope and faith alive within me, even though my circumstances at the time were telling me holding onto hope and faith was pointless and foolish.

I've had the opportunity to meet some of them and thank them for pouring water on dry ground, providing shade in a desert place, or for being a shelter in the storm. Others I haven't met, and may never meet, but for them and to them I am just as thankful. They have written books that I have gone back to on many occasions, each time finding some new piece of encouragement and insight.

It is not an overstatement to say that their words have at times saved my life. They have certainly kept alive my desire to keep moving forward, to become the person I'm designed to be.

Frederick Buechner has done a great job describing what it takes to write; "You just sit down at your typewriter (or laptop) and open up a vein." He's right. The books that have touched me the most carry with them the very substance that gives life to the writer. As I have previously told my friend Daniel Allen (whose own book will be released next February- Summoned on InterVarsity Press), the best books are written in blood. I have read such blood-soaked works while I felt I was covered in my own. Hopefully through their process of writing them and my process of reading them, the bleeding stopped a bit for both of us.

But, there are other writers and books that I also enjoy, for entirely different reasons than I have already mentioned. I believe that for all that books can give us, one of the important things they should deliver is fun. For that reason, I should mention those writers whose works of fiction have allowed me to relax for a bit and get lost in great stories.

The Irish crime dramas of Ken Bruen and Declan Hughes, the American crime settings of Michael Harvey, and the spy thrillers of William Boyd, Charles Cumming, Thomas Caplan, Sebastian Faulks, Jeffrey Deaver, and, of course, Ian Fleming...all of these have provided me many hours of enjoyment. I love to see where a great story and great characters will take me. And, for reasons I do not understand (but maybe my mental health professional friends can explain), reading crime and spy thrillers is one way that I unwind and relax. I don't understand it, but I do understand that it's true.

So, I give thanks today for writers and their work. I hope you will take time to consider whose writing makes you think and feel more deeply, causes you to continue to hope and believe, or who just takes you on a fun ride for 250 pages. Literature is such a great gift. In case you have not availed yourself of it in a while, I hope you will pick up or download a book today and let the power of words, thoughts, and story remind you just how alive you are, and how much more alive you can be.